Child abuse connection lands woman in jail

MOORE, Okla. – A Moore woman was sentenced to one year in the Cleveland County jail Wednesday in connection for the alleged sexual abuse of a 13-year-old girl.

Danyale Siford, 35, was accused of knowing her husband and another woman were sexually abusing the teenager and doing nothing about it until police found out and they were running from the law.

Although Siford’s efforts helped catch the three suspects in Washington, Judge Steve Stice called her behavior “inexcusable” before he sentenced her.

Siford walked out of the courtroom in handcuffs after shedding tears.

She pleaded guilty to the charge of failure to report child abuse but was upset at the sentence because she was the one who called a relative in law enforcement when she was on the run with her husband, Joe Siford, and Michelle Walker.

But Judge Stice said if the girl’s parents had not discovered inappropriate text messages on their daughter’s phone last year, Danyale would still be a willing participant in the abuse.

“There wouldn’t have been, we believe, a stop to the abuse,” Assistant Cleveland County D.A. Lori Puckett said following the sentencing.

According to a court affidavit, Danyale was upset at witnessing her husband kiss the teen last summer but eventually went skinny dipping in Lake Thunderbird with all three and took a shower with all three at Walker’s house.

“There were certainly big red flags that could have, or should have, caused any responsible adult to step back and evaluate the situation and think that perhaps there’s something going on here that’s inappropriate,” Puckett said.

Danyale had no comment following her sentencing but defense attorney Janice Howard-Croft said she was controlled with fear by her verbally-abusive husband and didn’t want to believe anything horrible was going on.

“They tell you over and over and over again that you’re nothing and that you’re not loved and you have no family and you have no friends. ‘All you’ve got is me,'” Howard-Croft said. “A domestic abuse victim believes that.”

Joe Siford is facing several charges of rape and lewd acts with a child.